Darnell Washington - TE - Georgia
Big guy touchdown!
Darnell Washington player comparison: An old oak tree.
Watching a 6 foot 7 guy catch a football is awesome I cannot lie to you.
Any time the towering Washington catches anything I get a rush of dopamine to the brain. “Yes! Run him over! Kill him!” I think to myself.
But I must separate how fun a player is from how good I think he will be. I think his unicorn frame gives him some unique strengths, but I think it also makes some his flaws get overlooked as we all collectively dream of our favorite team drafting the guy we made in Madden when we were 13.
The strengths first.
Washington’s calling card is his blocking. He’s been described as an extra tackle on the field. I think that’s a bit much, but he have a high rate of success executing his blocking assignment.
Darnell Washington has good core strength. He’s able to rotate his body, create torque, and yank defenders out of position.
Washington also has good foot speed. He has the straight line speed to track down second and third level defenders, and once he connects to a blocker, he’s frequently able to maneuver himself into a position that seals them off.
Washington does have some technical issues when he’s blocking. His feet can be a bit uncoordinated, and he’s so tall that it’s difficult for him to be the “low man” in the trenches. He is not completely immune to losing the leverage battle and getting walked back or shed.
But he is overall very impressive in this area, especially when you consider he wasn’t really asked to block at all in high school. He could still get even better.
People talk about blocking tight ends a lot, but I think it’s worth discussing why it matters.
An elite blocking tight end unlocks a lot in your play action game. Oftentimes when you run play action you end up with a tight end blocking an edge rusher on the backside, because that’s what happens on a normal run play. Play action passes are the most efficient type of passes that there are, and having a tight end that can actually hold an EDGE in those situations lets you access those high reward plays way more often.
And of course it just increases the likelihood of a run play being blocked perfectly, when a running play gets blocked just like it’s drawn up, it’s always a big gain.
There aren’t very many big blocking tight ends coming out of college these days. Washington may have increased value because of the scarcity of his skillset.
Now that all that BORING stuff out of the way, how about his receiving?
To me, it leaves a lot to be desired.
I have some issues with his catching technique.
Washington is wide open over the middle here, but as the ball comes is way, his hands are a bit too far apart and he lets the ball into his frame. Before the ball is fully secured, Washington takes his eyes off it and looks to the defender. He ends up securing it here, but it’s dicey technique that makes him have to double catch a routine one.
Similar deal on this play and this one is a drop. Washington is wide open but he “claps” at the football, letting the ball fly through his outstretched hands and into his frame. He tries to transition to being a runner too quickly, takes his eye off the ball, it bounces off of his chest and to the turf.
Data via SportsInfoSolutions and PFF.
No one can match Washington’s overall catch radius, but he’s not as reliable as the other tight ends I’ve looked at so far.
I’m dealing with dangerously small sample sizes here, but Washington caught 24/31 of his accurate targets over the middle of the field in his career (77.4%), whereas Mayer caught 88/99 (88.9%) and Kincaid caught 54/60 at Utah (90.0%). So he’s not quite the same type of security blanket.
Washington is also not nearly as agile as guys like Musgrave, Kincaid, and Mayer. Washington may always be an option to throw to as long as he has body positioning, but he’s not going to create a lot of separation on breaking routes.
At 270 pounds, Washington is just not a very twitchy or explosive athlete compared to every one else in the defensive backfield. He’s not someone I want in the slot running real routes, and I think most good coverage linebackers will be able to stay on him in man. Now, he may be able to box them out and still catch it, but that’s not what I want to rely on as an offense.
What I do like about Washington as a receiver is his body control and YAC ability.
Washington is simply too big for a lot of these smaller players to tackle. The best way to do it is to go low, but Washington knows that, and often leaps over would-be tacklers to pick up extra yards.
Washington adjusts to a ball thrown behind him here, spins around, plucks it out of the air, then hits the ground running. Washington hurdles another player, and is eventually dragged down just short of the goal line.
Overall, I’m pretty certain Washington will be a useful player, but I think he needs to be in a very specific role. I think Monken had it all figured out down in Georgia.
Pair Washington with another solid tight end. Get in 12 personnel. When Washington checks in the defense has to be thinking run. Now, it can be run and with Washington there is a good chance it still works, but you can also build in a deadly play action passing attack now. Washington can chip and release out, which isn’t too demanding from a route running perspective. Or, he can just block and buy the QB more time to find someone behind the LBs.
An explosive passing attack will always be the easiest way to win a super bowl. Although Washington isn’t going to impact that as directly as Mayer and Kincaid or maybe Musgrave, he can still be a useful player and make a decent amount of splash plays through the air every season.
Grade: 6.1 - High End TE2 - 3rd Round Grade
Where I’d like to see him:
Detroit Lions: I said I’d like to see Kincaid in Detroit but I take it back because Washington is a better fit to me. Washington is a great play action piece, Goff should probably be running a bunch of play action. I think Ben Johnson could do some fun things to get Washington open looks and let him go to work.
Washington Commanders: If Washington is actually serious about starting Sam Howell, they need to build a good rushing attack to take pressure off of him if they want to win games. Their current tight end room is bleak. Washington would be an instant upgrade and could be immensely helpful right away.
Tennessee Titans: There is just no way the Titans can get that WR core to where it needs to be in one offseason. Their best bet for this offense is the same formula that has always worked for them. Pound the rock, hit play action shots off of that. I love Chigoziem Okonkwo, he and Washington could be a fun duo. A good tight end pairing means they could live in 12 personnel and their lack of talent on the outside wouldn’t matter as much. With a good defense and better health they could still field a functional offense.
I think his NFL career will be pretty similar to his college career where he’ll always be a fun and useful player that makes a bunch of wow plays but is never really at the top of his position. If he stays healthy he’ll have a long and solid career I think.
Please God let him go to the Cowboys